Payroll for plumbing and mechanical contractors

HOW THE TRADE IS PAID

1. 01Each hour's work sets the rate and the class. A mechanical crew is paid by the classification of the work in each hour: plumber, pipefitter, steamfitter, sprinkler fitter or sheet metal worker, as the wage determination lists them. The work decides, not the license the worker holds. The same work decides the workers' comp class code. Your team assigns each worker's classification and apprentice step from the wage determination and the apprenticeship program; payroll applies the rates.
2. 02Overtime is 1.5 times the basic rate, fringe at straight time. On a federal prevailing wage job, hours over 40 in the workweek are paid at 1.5 times the basic rate, and the fringe is paid for every hour at straight time, never multiplied. With a $40.00 basic rate and $16.75 fringe, an overtime hour is $60.00 plus $16.75: $76.75.
3. 03Fringe can be paid in cash. Fringe can go to bona fide plans, be paid in cash, or both, as long as the total meets the wage determination. Cash paid above the basic rate can make up fringe, and plan contributions above the fringe rate can count toward the basic rate. Cash fringe is taxable wages, and it stays out of the overtime base like plan contributions.
4. 04Show-up pay stays out of the regular rate. Show-up pay paid on infrequent and sporadic occasions, beyond pay for the hours actually worked, is not pay for hours worked: it is left out of the regular rate, and it does not count toward overtime owed. Union agreements and some state laws require it.
5. 05Pay-as-you-go comp is still audited. Pay-as-you-go billing charges comp premium on each payroll's actual wages by class code, instead of a deposit on estimated payroll. The carrier still audits the policy after each policy period ends; billing on actual payroll makes the true-up smaller, not unnecessary.
6. 06A superintendent's day with the tools moves that person's pay. The superintendent class covers executives, project managers and superintendents who manage through foremen. A superintendent who works with the tools or directly supervises the crew, rather than through foremen, takes the class of that work: it moves that person's pay to the trade class, not the company's payroll.